270 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



well dressed, and being tied in large bundles, with all the crowns 

 on a level, are set upright on the bed, three or four days after it 

 has been made, when the heat is already somewhat spent. The 

 roots are watered, if necessary, before the growth sets in. After 

 a fortnight or twenty days, the leaves are 8 to 10 inches long, 

 and fit for use. The roots are then untied, sorted, and made 

 into small handfuls of from 15 to 20 roots, which are again 

 tied into larger bundles for sending to market, which bundles 

 sell at from eight to twenty shillings per hundred. 



Notwithstanding the utter darkness of the cellars where the 

 forcing and blanching process is conducted, the Barbe de 

 capucin offers a marked bitterness, which in Paris is relished 

 rather than otherwise. Dark-red Beet is often associated 

 with it. 



Witloof, or the Brussels Chicory (fig. 7), is made from a dis- 

 tinct variety which is chiefly notable for the width of the leaves, 

 and especially for the great development of their midribs. It is 

 noticeable that in all leaves developed in darkness the rib seems 

 to attain its normal size, while the leaf-blade itself is greatly 

 reduced in breadth. This fact is particularly striking in Witloof, 

 where the head seems to be made up almost entirely of the 

 imbricated leaf-ribs. 



Boots are grown as with Barbe de cajpucin, but farther apart, 

 and must be thinned to a much greater distance, as each root 

 has to attain the size of a spade-handle or of a billiard-cue at 

 its larger end. 



Brussels remains to this day the head-quarters for the pro- 

 duction of Witloof. The system adopted there is as follows : 

 Boots are dug up in October, and either immediately dressed and 

 placed in the forcing-pits, or put by till the time comes to force 

 them. Each root must be carefully dressed before forcing. 

 The leaves surrounding the central shoot are cut back to rather 

 less than 2 inches of their base, and all leaves belonging to 

 lateral shoots are entirely removed with all buds, as all the 

 strength of the root should be thrown into the main shoot. The 

 inferior part of each root is cut, so as to make the roots perfectly 

 even, as all the crowns must stand on a level in the pit. 



This is made from 12 to 18 inches deep. The roots are put 

 standing on the bottom, which has been lined previously 

 with fine sod or leaf-mould ; they are planted in rows 4 to 6 



